On Saturday, July 29th hundreds gathered at Rock Valley College PEC building to participate in the 2017 Rock River-Off Season Robotic Competition, hosted by R2OC. R2OC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit partnership of Rock River Valley US First Robotics Teams. Our goal is to provide an off-season event where FIRST Robotics teams can participate in a competition, show off their 'bots to the community, and meet others who share their robotics enthusiasm.

The CIS division hosted a table and was able to showcase "RVC Hour of Code", "Learn Coding with Robots", "DESTIR", and discuss the training Rock Valley College courses provides future programmers. Attendees raced Ozobots, remote controlled DESTIR the robot and played iPad games created by RVC CIS280 mobile app development students!

The CIS division wants to thank R2OC for inviting us to the event and we can't wait until next year!

Visit the R2OC website:http://r2oc.org/

On July 15th, 2017 over a dozen folks learned how to build a computer and control Minecraft with Python code. The computer shell has a built HD monitor and system board that allows components such as the Raspberry Pi, Speakers and a hat compatible card to snap onto a magnetic rail.

​What Did Attendees Take Home? Attendees took home the computer they built, along with any software they created on it. In addition, a certificate of completion will be given to each attendee.
Attendees Will Learn to:

• Build a computer
• Code with Python
• Create games
• Use the Linux operating system

Top Skills Gained
Software & Hardware Skills Development

• Python / Linux
• Computer Hardware
• Raspberry Pi

STEM & 21st Century Skills Development

• Creativity
• Problem Solving
• Project Planning